Labor in a Diesel Plant

Labor in a Diesel Plant is an idealized image of industrial manufacturing that conveys the dynamism of a contemporary factory. Arranged vertically, the composition features images of men and machines working in tandem. While the mechanical motifs recall imagery from Charlie Chaplin’s acclaimed film Modern Times (1936), Calapai presented harmony and productivity rather than the chaos and reification Chaplin depicted. Calapai’s celebration of industrial workers, use of non-naturalistic space, and application of other compositional strategies evoke revered murals by artists like Diego Rivera (such as Detroit Industry Murals, 1932–33) as well as American artists associated with the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Calapai, in fact, had experience with murals, having made them for the WPA, in addition to producing prints.